Assam Laksa (Kedah Version)

Dunno exactly what to call it,...the Malay version or Kedah Laksa.

The differences...compared to Penang Assam Laksa...it's much sour, whereas, Penang version is on the sweet side. To add to that, they tend to blend the fish into a thick paste.

Check out the Assam Laksa Kedah version !

Prepare the laksa paste; shallots, turmeric, lemongrass, galangal, garlic, fresh chillies, dried chillies & belachan. Blend together till become paste.

Cut and clean the fish. Bring water to boil, add the fish. Boil for approximately 5min. Remove the fish and let it cool down before you blend it. Boiled the remaining bones again for another 5min. Strain the fish stock into new/clean pot.

Add the laksa paste ingredients, tamarind juice, tamarind peel & polygonum leaves, and boiled for 20min. Then add the fish flake simmer for another 30min. Salt and sugar to taste.

How to serve....add in the laksa noodles and garnish all vegetables on top. Pour the Assam Laksa soup in.

Remember to serve with a spoonful of prawn paste (Har Ko).

Ingredients

100g Shallots
30g Fresh Red Chillies
5g (10) Dried Red Chillies, soaked
30g Galangal

20g Turmeric
20g Stalks Lemongrass
10g Garlic
30g Belachan, toasted
500g Mackerel
2Lit Water
20g Polyganum Leaves (Daun Kesom)
10g Stalks Lemongrass, bruised
100g Tamarind Pulp, soaked in water

10g Tamarind Peel

250g Cucumber, cut into thin strips

100g Lettuces Leaves, cut into thin strips

50g Mint Leaves
50g Ginger Flower, sliced finely
5tbsp Prawn Paste, mixed with hot water
300g Laksa Noodles, scalded
2tsp Salt, or to taste 
2tsp Sugar, or to taste

Nasi Lemak (Coconut Milk Rice)

Authentic Nyonya-style Nasi Lemak is simply coconut milk rice served with fried anchovies and peanuts, fried tamarind fish or fried tamarind prawn, cucumber, boiled egg and THE SAMBAL BELACHAN. Trust me, nothing is complete without the Sambal Belachan.

There are many version of Nasi Lemak....the coconut milk rice itself varies,....example; the steamed coconut milk rice (Nasi Lemak Kukus) and many different side dishes, some with fried chicken, curry chicken, rendang chicken, curry squid, curry cockles....and the list goes on and on.....depends on what you prefer.

Well,...what I cooked is a mild version. Not so much of coconut milk but I emphasized on the fragrance.

Check out the simple recipe...

Coconut Milk Rice: 
Use one cup of rice, wash and drain a few times till the water is clear.
Add it one onion, one slice ginger, screwpine leaf (Pandan Leaf), a pinch of salt, water and 1/4 of coconut milk (from one grated coconut)
Cook the rice in a steamer till almost dry, sprinkle another 1/4 of coconut milk and mixed the rice well.

Fried Tamarind Prawn:
Use 600g of medium size prawn (to your likings), wash and drain.
Marinate with one handful of (50g) tamarind pulp, a pinch of salt, 1/2 tbsp of sugar for 1-2 hours.
Heat up the wok, add in some oil and in goes the prawn.
Fry till aromatic. Some might want it slightly dry and burnt, some preferred still soft and juicy. You choose ! 

Check out the ingredients for Sambal Belachan:

This is my weekend favorite.....try it !

So Much Yet So Little

Would you believe it, if I tell you all these ingredients....approximately 20+ of them and 4 hours preparing and cooking.... 

....this is all you get !!??? Imagine all the hard work, and gone within seconds into the stomach !!???

....so why cook it ? 

This dish is getting rare these days, eventhough you can find in some of the nyonya restaurants,...it no longer has the authentic taste anymore. I have xplore most of the nyonya restaurants in Klang Valley and not to my liking. Furthermore, for this small bowl you see will cost you about RM 15.00 to RM 18.00....now you know for all the hard work this is the price you pay for. 

Why so expensive ? Well, it's like chicken and egg story ! Because it's time consuming and the ingredients are hard to find,...the price is high,....so when the price is high,....people might not want to eat this....so where does this lead to....extinction !...of it's kind ! The new generation don't even know what is this !

So, before this dish disappear from our menu, I start to learn the recipe, introduce to all my food connoisseurs....and pass the recipe around. 

Try it out and share with your friends the recipe Perut Ikan.

Trust me,...no regrets !   

Thai Shrimp Paste

Try to go green ???!!!! I always love green, green raw veggies with sambal belachan,...but not everyone can accept having just green without any other dish. Well, sambal belachan is tasty and a pungent dip to go with, cincalok or budu would be lovely too,....but I have tried most of it and running out of choice.

So let xplore what other choice we have ! I was in Thailand a few days ago and I came across some cute looking containers look like this...

Looks suspicious and tempting ! Let's see what can we do with this !!!???

Preparation: Dried shrimp (Soaked), Garlic, Tiny Eggplant, Thai Shrimp Paste, Chillies
Smashed the Dried Shrimp, Garlic, Tiny Eggplant, Thai Shrimp Paste and Chillies in a mortar or pestle.

Mixed all the ingredients and add in Fish Sauce, Brown Sugar and Lime Juice. 

Voila ! Done !

This is how it looks like. Taste pungent, sweet, sour, salty and HOT !

Serve with steamed rice and raw veggies. Healthy stuff ! Try this for a change !

Nyonya Assam Laksa

Honestly, the origin of the name "laksa" is unclear. One theory says it is referring to a type of vermicelli. Second theory says that "laksa" may also be derived from the meaning "spicy sand" due to the dried prawns which make the gravy taste extremely sandy. Well just THEORY ! There are many version of Assam Laksa depending where you are eating; Kedah, Johor, Ipoh, Sarawak...& not forgetting the famous Penang Assam Laksa.

The recipe I am sharing with you is the Penang Assam Laksa,....Nyonya Style,....this is not the Nyonya Laksa or what they called Laksa Lemak.

This recipe is from a typical nyonya auntie from Penang. Interesting !..., the differences between this Nyonya Assam Laksa and the one you get it from the Penang hawker stalls are; the is the colour is a bit yellowish, strong aroma & taste from the shallots, lemongrass, turmeric,...etc. BUT...taste good.

Try this for change !

First prepare the laksa paste; shallots, turmeric, lemongrass, galangal, garlic, dried chillies & belachan. Blend together till become paste.

Cut and clean the fish. Bring water to boil, add the fish. Boil for approximately 5 minutes. Remove the fish and let it cool down before you flake it. Boiled the remaining bones again for another 5 minutes. Strain the fish stock into new/clean pot. 

Add the laksa paste ingredient, tamarind juice, tamarind peel & polygonum leaves, and cook over low heat for 30 minutes. Then add the fish flake boiled for another 5-10 minutes. Salt and sugar to taste.

Serve with toppings; slice pineapple, cucumber, onion, lettuce leaves, ginger flower, mint leaves & final touch...prawn paste (Har Ko).

Serving for 6paxs

Ingredients

Paste
200g (15)Shallots
10g Dried Chillies, soaked
50g Galangal
50g Turmeric
60g 2-3 Stalks Lemongrass
10g Garlic
15g Belachan

Stocks
800g Mackerel (Kembung Fish)
2Liters Water
40g Polyganum Leaves (Daun Kesom)
20g 2 Stalks Lemongrass, Bruised
150g Tamarind Pulp (Assam Jawa)
5g Tamarind Peel (Assam Keping)

Toppings
300g Cucumber, cut into thin strips
100g Lettuces Leaves, cut into thin strips
40g Mint Leaves
200g (1/2) Pineapple, cut into thin strips
50g Ginger Flower (Bunga Kantan), sliced finely
5tbsp Prawn Paste (Har Ko), mixed with hot water
300g Laksa Noodles, scalded
1tbsp Salt, or to taste
1tbsp Sugar, or to taste

Fuzhou Red Wine Stewed Chicken

Another Fuzhou's wonderful creation....the secret all liaise within the potent Fuzhou Red Wine !

Check out this tasty simple to do recipe....

Preparation: Chicken (Blanched with boiling water), Ginger (Sliced), Fuzhou Red Wine, Black Fungus (Soaked) and Coriander Leaves. 

Heat up the claypot. Add oil and saute the ginger till fragrant, then throw in the chicken. Stir fry for 5min.

Add water and let it come to a boil. Lower the heat and let it simmer for 20min. Add the Black Fungus and pour in the Red Wine.

Season with Salt and Pepper. Garnish with the Coriander Leaves.

Serving for 2 paxs

Ingredients

500g (1/2) Village Chicken, blanched with Boiling Water

10g Ginger, sliced

5g Black Fungus, soaked 

5g Coriander Leaves

1tsp Salt

1/4tsp Pepper

1tbsp Oil 

1cup Water

1/2cup Red Wine

What's Cooking for Xmas

When I was in HK I bumped into one of my close friend and what you know,...I was cordially invited to her Xmas party...cool !

But what I was not aware, after a couple of beers.....I realized that actually I was the party so called chef...huh !!??? BBQ for thirty people ! Simple thing...sausage, chicken wings, pork ribs, baked potatoes, corn, grilled prawn and what else ?

It's Xmas...so let's stirred up something additional and unusual !Roast Pork and Kerabu Beehoon for a treat...

...check out the Roast Pork Recipe!...also check out kerabu beehoon recipe

Ingredients; Pork Belly, Five Spice, Parsley/Rosemary, Mixed Herbs, Garlic, Vinegar, Coarse Salt, Salt and Ground Black Pepper.

Make sure the pork is dry,...dry,...if not, you won't have a nice perfect crispy skin.

Mixed the Five Spice, Mixed Herbs, Parsley, Ground Black Pepper and Salt together,...rub evenly on the pork belly. With a small knife pierce bottom of the pork and gently force garlic slices into the cuts. Rub vinegar and coarse salt over the top of the pork.

Roll up and tie the pork belly. Bake in the preheat oven over the temperature of 230C for 60min to 75min.

Half way through turn the pork to ensure the skin cracks evenly (Haha...this step is only necessary if the oven is small and insufficient heat)

Once the roast pork is done, let it rest for 10min before slicing.

Ingredients

3kg Pork Belly

20g Garlic

10g Parsley

1tsp Salt

1tbsp Coarse Salt

1tsp Ground Black Pepper

2tsp Five Spice

2tsp Mixed Herbs

1tbsp Vinegar

What's For Tea in HK

What's for tea break ? The next few food stuffs are definitely a delicacy in Hong Kong....

...don't xplore, don't try, then how to know whether it's good !

Tea break ! the locals will be surrounding this kinda place.....sometimes you wonder where all this people come from !? It's in the middle of a working day....

The delicious food must be attracting people away from work....I guess ! Check out what's cooking....

Grilled squid with spicy sauce HK$6, Deep Fried Japanese Smelt Fish or known as pregnant fish HK$12. Damn delicious especially during winter....Hot and spicy !

Curry Fish Balls HK$6. Sometimes when you see everyone eating, you tend to join them, as if it's super super good and it's a must to try ! So join the crowd...

Dare or not ! Imagine your office colleague ran out to have Chow Taufu, paid HK$6 and comes back to have a meeting with you !?...What do you think you should do !

Don't know how smelly...check out one of my glutton's expressions

Hong Kong style-milk tea HK$9 cannot do without it...so when you are in HK alone or with your loved ones do try to xplore and live to tell...

What's For Lunch in HK...

...continuation from what's for breakfast in HK

What's for lunch,....just wait for lunch time and follow the crowd in the busy street of HK and see where they ended up.

Every corner of the streets in HK you will tend to find these few dishes and this is what the locals have for lunch....

Char Siew Fun with additional salted egg, octopus and Kailan. Simple, fast to serve and tasty too. Value for money too,....normally I will just order a plate for two.

Noodles with voluptuous wantan. The wantan is filled with prawn and a bit of meat.

Hong Kong Famous Beef Brisket Noodles. Must not miss this ! So sad if you chose not to take beef !

We have done...breakfast,..lunch....check out what's for Tea Break